Really bad trade, I honestly think that there's a 5% chance we get a player of the same value as JJ in the second round.. our best wing defender, who's by no means a good/great/untradeable player, for a second round pick? Hmm... More minutes for Fields, DeRozan and Ross.

+1

again why quit on him after barely a season and a half but give Bargs an eternity.

I think the play of Kleiza in the qualifiers solidified his spot with the Raps and made JJ expendable. Personally, i wouldve let Kleiza go and kept JJ.

Well keeping Kleiza makes sense to me. If JV really lives up to this hype, it would be silly to trade away the one guy on this team that has played with JV and is a good friend of his. That is not a really solid start to a team-player relationship.

Was the 2nd round pick the best offer? I have trouble believing that. And if it was the best deal available, wouldn't it make sense to use Johnson as a piece in a larger trade? We all knew JJ was gone when Fields was acquired, but I have trouble believing that the guy who leads a "defensive minded" team in blocks and steals should be flipped for a second rounder. Not to mention the guy was improving.

And the return for the Bosh SnT is officially a second rounder? Bayless was acquired by the TPE, James Johnson was acquired by Miami's first rounder and then flipped for this deal receiving the Kings second round pick... If I had a crystal ball I'd assume BC flips this newly acquired 2nd rounder for future considerations leaving the Raps with nothing!

Wasn't a big fan of JJ but thought he could be packaged in with Jose and one of Amir or Davis for a all-star caliber player like Iggy, Gay, Deng or Granger.

With the last two moves (Bayless rescinded offer and JJ trade) the rotation is looking more and more obvious. starters and backups 1-3 are figured out with 4 PF's still on the roster (3 of them needing minutes in Dre, Amir & Ed) and 2 centers.

The return for the Bosh S&T was 2 picks ... one late 1st rounder was flipped for JJ (who gave us good minutes in rebuilding years) ... and the other pick? It was our own pick last year, which we had initially sent to Miami in a trade. Turned into Jonas Valanciunas ... i'd say that was a pretty amazing S&T, for a guy who was leaving the organization anyway.

The only way to bag a classy lady is to give her two tickets to the gun show... and see if she likes the goods.

I used to cringe every time Johnson touched the ball on offense. Sure, he had some nice blocks and dunks, but IMO, it didn't warrant playing him significant minutes.

If I'm an opposing GM, it would be hard to convince me to give up much for a bench player on a lottery team.

I dont think he was that bad, he's 45%FGM. The guy avgs almost 2blks per game and at least 1 stl in 25mins. Compared to Calderon who is your starting PG avg .9stls per game and Johnson/Gray your Cs at .3/1.1 blocks per game. If JJ played 36mins, he wouldve produced 13pts/6rebs/4asts/1stl/2blks per game, not bad for $2.8mil.

Well keeping Kleiza makes sense to me. If JV really lives up to this hype, it would be silly to trade away the one guy on this team that has played with JV and is a good friend of his. That is not a really solid start to a team-player relationship.

Was the 2nd round pick the best offer? I have trouble believing that. And if it was the best deal available, wouldn't it make sense to use Johnson as a piece in a larger trade? We all knew JJ was gone when Fields was acquired, but I have trouble believing that the guy who leads a "defensive minded" team in blocks and steals should be flipped for a second rounder. Not to mention the guy was improving.

I dont think he was that bad, he's 45%FGM. The guy avgs almost 2blks per game and at least 1 stl in 25mins. Compared to Calderon who is your starting PG avg .9stls per game and Johnson/Gray your Cs at .3/1.1 blocks per game. If JJ played 36mins, he wouldve produced 13pts/6rebs/4asts/1stl/2blks per game, not bad for $2.8mil.

Nice numbers but he turn the ball over quite a bit. I dunno, I liked his hustle but lacks the polish that befits an NBA starter. He seemed wild at times and tried to do more than he's supposed to. I'm fine with Landry starting in his spot. He's getting paid starters money so, start...

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

It's called, James Johnson - Regression from potential. I was never high on him. He got minutes because the rest of the team was so bad at that position. Let's move on.

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

again why quit on him after barely a season and a half but give Bargs an eternity.

Because JJ is unlikely to ever become a starter-quality player and there are logjams at the two positions he plays.

How would you distribute the minutes at these two positions had JJ not been traded? Keep in mind Ross or DeRozan may see some time at SF.

I also don't buy the "JJ was our best perimeter defender" thing. JJ was a gambler and although I believe he was our best "recovery" defender, especially against fast break, I don't think he was anything special at guarding his man in a half court set.

I will miss him though as he has an unusual skill set.

What did Raps get back for Bosh now?[/QUOTE]
Opportunities to take a chance on players who had a slim chance to become starter-quality players and a decent chance at becoming useful rotation players. It just did not pan out.

Yeah the only thing is that there is a good reason why the Knicks never matched the offer and its simple : Landry is a nice role player but will never be considered good enough starter.

The juggling act of replacing mediocre players for medicore players continues in Toronto.

Personally, I prefer to see what they do on the floor under a system such as Casey's. Landry has yet to put a uniform on let alone play under Casey. To use his sophomore year stats is a joke considering the MELOdrama BS and two coaches / system he had to go through.

As far as mediocre is concerned, Phoenix targeted him as a piece coming back for their future hall of famer PG in Nash. Think about that.

“The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.” - Martin Luther King

Reading between the lines I feel he did not accept the role of defensive stopper which was Coach Casey's perception of him and aspired to be a key element offensively which did not jibe with his skill set. Its fine to want to get better but not at the expense of good shot selection and fitting in realistically with your teammates.

I just think like a lot of today's basketball players he overestimated his potential contribution on offence and wanted more touches, shots, floor time and a bigger role in the running of the team offence. Coach Casey disagreed. That I believe was the nature of the rift and my take on why he was moved.

Good luck in Sacramento.

+1

People are also talking about his $2.8mil salary...which has a QO of $3.9mil in 2013-2014. He probably thinks he is worth more than that. He would have been perfect for an off the bench role player, but he did not see himself as one.

The return for the Bosh S&T was 2 picks ... one late 1st rounder was flipped for JJ (who gave us good minutes in rebuilding years) ... and the other pick? It was our own pick last year, which we had initially sent to Miami in a trade. Turned into Jonas Valanciunas ... i'd say that was a pretty amazing S&T, for a guy who was leaving the organization anyway.

Good point. I'm not sure I would trade JV for Bosh right now, and BC had absolutely no leverage.

JJ was okay, but they had to take a call for the SF position. They didn't have enough minutes for Fields, Kleiza and JJ. I think that there is very good reason to believe that Fields will be an upgrade over JJ, though time will tell. Kleiza would have been harder to trade.

And then they settled on 2 1st round picks in the 25-30 range and 2 2nd round picks in the 55-60 range.

Think about that.

i wouldnt call it settling at all.. those 4 picks will end up being very good trade chips or at the very least they get 4 cracks at finding a diamond in the rough.. thats not bad... & def. doesnt suggest that Fields is crap.

think about it.. with those picks the lakers could have had D.Howard already..